I have never been able to make up my mind whether to concentrate on art, writing or natural history. I usually concentrate on one of the three for a while, then concentrate on another of the three. Art, writing and natural history are intwined in my life and often involve teaching a combination of these subjects.

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Butterfly Transect at Brukner Nature Center...Some Results from the 2016 Season

The 2017 Ohio Butterfly Transect Monitoring begins, weather permitting, on April first. I have been seeing butterflies on warm days so I know they are on the move.

Last year we saw a greater number of species than we saw in previous years. I like to think it is because our eyes are sharper now that they are practiced at finding butterflies.

We saw 38 species in 2016. The species we saw most often was the Silver-spotted Skipper. 2016 was a bumper year for Silver-spotted Skippers. Officially, we saw 424 which was 44% of all butterflies we saw. By comparison, in 2015 we saw only 54 which was 9% of all the butterflies we saw.

Silver-spotted Skipper (Epargyreus clarus)

The Cabbage White was the second most often seen. Most years, it is the most common seen. A non-native, it thrives in our area.

Cabbage White (Pieris rapae)

Coming in third in numbers seen in 2016 were the Pearl Crescents. They are one of our common butterflies though not always in the top three.

Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos)

In 2016, we didn't see any butterflies that have never been sighted in Miami County but we saw eight that we had never seen before on the Brukner Nature Center Butterfly Transect.

Harvester (Feniseca tarquinius)

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Common Checkered-Skipper (Pyrgus communis)
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Gray Hairstreak (Strymon melinus)

The others, for which I don't have labeled photos were Zebra Swallowtail, Common Sootywing and Tawny-edged Skipper.

If the temperature is warm enough, the minimum being 60 degrees and almost full sun, we will start the 2017 season this weekend.

About Me

I have been interested in art, writing and natural history since childhood.
After leaving elementary school teaching, I took a part-time job teaching drawing to children. That turned out to be a part-time job for the next twenty years. It was one of the most enjoyable jobs I have ever had.
During the same time I was a part-time educator for a local nature center and then an environmental educator for the county parks. When I am with children or adults in the woods or prairies or streams, I am sure there is nothing I could be doing that would make me happier. Throughout my teaching career, I have learned as much as I have taught. Along the way I have written articles and short stories and painted a lot of watercolors. Writing helps me understand myself and my world. Painting is pure pleasure.